Suicide of Lucas, 13: the boy said he wanted to end his life in his diary

He had confided in writing before taking action.

After the opening of an investigation for harassment of minors and school harassment, the public prosecutor of Épinal, Frédéric Nahon indicates this Friday that Lucas, the teenager who killed himself last Saturday in Golbey, in the Vosges, had testified to his discomfort in the pages of his diary.

"With regard to the causes of death, the findings and the autopsy carried out at the Forensic Institute of Nancy, made it possible to establish the thesis of a suicide by hanging", explained the prosecutor quoted by France 3 Grand-Est, adding that the 13-year-old boy had "left a note in a diary explaining his desire to end his life".

Several relatives of Lucas had denounced acts of harassment at the Louis Armand college in Golbey, because of his homosexuality.

"The hearings of the teenager's relatives made within the framework of the investigation, for the purpose of researching the causes of death, revealed the existence of mockery and homophobic insults of which Lucas would have been the victim by other students. “, explained the prosecutor.

A “causal link” to be verified

Frédéric Nahon wants to be cautious, however.

The investigation launched on Wednesday, must "confirm the reality of the acts of harassment that Lucas allegedly suffered, their duration, the exact content of the remarks, the behavior denounced, and to verify the various measures that have been taken".

Investigators from the Épinal police station will also have to "verify the causal link" between the acts of harassment and the death of Lucas.

“We have to be careful on this last point.

(…) What will be decisive is the date of the mockery mentioned, ”recalled the prosecutor.

Lucas' family had not filed a complaint for harassment, but "the facts had been reported to National Education, which had received the minors", had previously declared the magistrate.

The boy's mother and his lawyer will also be received next week by the public prosecutor of Épinal.

The rectorate was informed of the facts

At Louis Armand College, a psychological unit “for students and teachers” was set up on Monday, said the rectorate of the Grand-Est academic region in a press release, recalling that the establishment was “committed to the PHARE anti-harassment system”.

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Lucas and his mother "reported teasing at the start of the school year in September" and the facts were "immediately taken seriously by the college teams, who showed great vigilance on a daily basis, while maintaining the link with the student and his family", according to the rectorate.

“I am thinking of all the students like him who are harassed: their despair is the basis of my determination to prevent all forms of harassment”, reacted the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, in a tweet.

"No child should find suicide as the ultimate outcome," he said.